Here's how to attend the free Mumford & Sons in-store appearance in Indianapolis

Saturday is the first chance for Mumford & Sons fans to pick up free tickets for the band's March 25 in-store appearance at Indy CD & Vinyl.

The Broad Ripple record store plans to distribute 160 free tickets across 10 days — 16 tickets per day beginning Saturday — for the afternoon event before Mumford & Sons headline Bankers Life Fieldhouse that night.

Indy CD & Vinyl, 806 Broad Ripple Ave., will hand out tickets on a first-come, first-served. The store opens at 10 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays and at noon Sunday through Thursday.

"We're trying to figure out the most fair way to give everybody kind of equal access to this very limited amount of tickets to an in-store," said Andy Skinner, co-owner of Indy CD & Vinyl.

It's safe to say the tickets are in demand. On March 2, the store made two tickets available in an auction to support Village Montessori school in Broad Ripple. The winning bid: $3,660.

Skinner said the parent company of Island Records — Mumford & Sons' label since 2009 debut album "Sigh No More" — contacted the store about hosting the in-store event.

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"The band is a friend of physical retail and always has been," Skinner said. "I don't want to put words in their mouths, but a band of that status needs things to keep them grounded and closer to fans. Here's something intimate to do before they go play in front of (16,000) people at Bankers Life."

Mumford & Sons will play an unplugged set at the 3 p.m. event. Band members Marcus Mumford, Winston Marshall, Ted Dwane and Ben Lovett plan to pose for photos with attendees, but they will not sign autographs because of time constraints.

It's also possible to win a VIP experience for the event. For every $50 someone spends at CD & Vinyl, the customer will be eligible for a drawing a few days before the show.

Three winners will receive two tickets each, a vantage point next to the stage and a gift bag from the store and other Broad Ripple businesses.

"If someone lives far away, they can even call and buy something over the phone to get their name in for that," Skinner said.

For more information, visit indycdandvinyl.com.

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Call IndyStar reporter David Lindquist at 317-444-6404. Follow him on Twitter: @317Lindquist.