Back in 2007, more than 700 independent record stores in the United States came together to celebrate their unique culture in the first Record Store Day (RSD).

The UK soon followed suit, and 2014 will see the seventh celebration of our country’s unique independent sector.

Saturday, April 19 is the one day that all of the independently-owned record shops come together with artists and music lovers to celebrate the art of music.

Special vinyl and CD releases, along with various other promotional products, are made exclusively for the day, and hundreds of musicians and bands around the world make special appearances at their favourite ‘indie’.

Festivities include performances, artist meet-and-greets, DJ sets, in-store quizzes, special sales, and a whole lot more.

Flashback Records, which has branches in Crouch End and Islington, will be hosting Brighton band The Soft Walls at the Crouch End shop, while there will be performances taking place at both shops, and both have large RSD stock selections for you to browse (flashback.co.uk).

Les Aldrich Music in Fortis Green Road, Muswell Hill, where it has been situated since the early 1990s, has a live performance from Native Birds at around 5pm, plus a DJ set from 2pm to 4.30pm. The shop will be opening slightly later so you can continue buying your vinyl while you enjoy a drink (or two) (lesaldrichmusic.co.uk).

There are also events taking place at Audio Gold in Park Road, Crouch End (audiogold.co.uk), and Clerkenwell Music in Exmouth Market (clerkenwellmusic.co.uk) – contact them for full details of how they’re celebrating.

Record Store Day is on Saturday, April 19. Details: recordstoreday.co.uk