The 24 Hours of Le Mans traditionally takes place in the 2nd or the 3rd weekend of June when the hours of sunshine become longest. The event usually has a "test day" that allows the entrants to do some free practice runs, however, it has served as the pre-qualifying session when the number of entrants exceeded the maximum grid number of 55.

A week before the race day, the 24 Hours of Le Mans race week starts with the administrative checks and scrutineering held for two days Sunday and Monday at Place des Jacobins. The scrutineering itself is one of many festive events that is open to the public viewing. In this year, as Place des Jacobins currently be under construction, the scrutineering will be held at Place de la Republique.

On Tuesday, after the scrutineering, photo and autograph sessions and other enjoyable events are held at the track and actual running sessions start from Wednesday. After the 4-hour free practice from 16:00 local time (15:00 GMT), the official qualifying session starts at 22:00 and finishes at 24:00. The qualifying sessions are repeated twice (19:00-21:00 and 22:00-24:00) on Thursday and thus the pole position and following grids are decided.

On Friday, the pit walk session is held at the track, and the drivers' parade through the centre of the town of Le Mans. The whole week of The 24 Hours of Le Mans turns into the festivity and the entire town rejoice the annual pageant. The driver parade is the most significant example of the attraction that many inhabitants and spectators enjoy to watch along the way.

On Saturday, the 45-minute practice session begins at 9:00 and, after some support races in between, the endurance race finally makes its start. The race goes on non-stop for the following 24 hours and finishes at 15:00 on Sunday to see the honourable winner.