Record Store Day has announced a second drop date for 2021, with events now taking place in June and July.

It comes after the 2020 version of the annual celebration ended up being split across three events in August, September and October.

After announcing their initial date of June 12 for 2021’s RSD at the end of last year, an additional date of July 17 has now been added.

Big Record Store Day news, we have added a second date to the Summer celebrations! The #RSDDrops are back and now taking place on Saturday 12th June AND 17th July ?. More details coming soon… #RSD21 https://t.co/azZ6fcA8Vo pic.twitter.com/gnA2li8CFr

— Record Store Day UK (@RSDUK) March 4, 2021

A statement announcing the new date read: “With vaccines on the horizon, Record Store Day organisers around the world look forward to the future, but recognise that in 2021, the world’s biggest record store party needs some adjustments to make it as successful for as many participating indie record shops as possible.

“Throughout the past year, record stores have found creative, flexible and inventive ways to keep serving the music lovers in their communities. However, the ongoing worldwide pandemic makes it impossible to predict the status of many stores and locations around the globe in the next few months.

“This brings with it many unexpected side effects, including production and distribution issues that continue to disrupt record store supply chains.”

The message concluded: “The decision to once again shift the “Record Store Day energy” across 2 dates allows the largest number of stores to participate around the world.”

The last in a trio of RSD 2020 events took place on Saturday, October 24. Fans were able to get their hands on exclusive releases from Beck and St. Vincent, Def Leppard, Eminem, Suede, Lou Reed, The Rolling Stones, Snoop Dogg and Thin Lizzy.

Back in September, it was revealed that the first Record Store Day (held in August) resulted in a 3% rise in vinyl sales, despite the COVID-19 pandemic causing significant disruption to the retail industry.

At the end of 2020, Record Store Day released limited vinyl from the likes of Motörhead, My Chemical Romance and Beastie Boys for Black Friday 2020. More than 200 UK indie record shops participated.