Last year’s parade took place in glorious sun. (Photo: Mark Greenmantle/Irish Echo)

The Brisbane Irish Festival has organised a jam-packed schedule to celebrate St Patrick’s Day.

The festival already kicked off at the weekend and continues with an extremely colourful parade on Saturday.

The party started with the black-tie Brisbane Irish Festival Ball at the Tara Ballroom in The Irish Club.

But organisers were forced to cancel Sunday’s family sports day.

Recent wet weather has waterlogged the facility, forcing the event’s postponement.

Organisers hope to soon reschedule the event to coincide with the unveiling of new facilities at the ground.

But despite the setback, organisers say that this year’s Brisbane Irish Festival is attracting huge interest .

“We are getting loads of good feedback on social media. Last year’s parade brought in 35,000 people to the city centre,” spokeswoman Sorcha Holmes told us.

Queensland Premier Campbell Newman will attend the St Patrick’s eve dinner tonight, also at the Queensland Irish Club.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, pictured at least year's St Patrick's Eve Dinner in Brisbane with QIA president Eamon Gaffney and Queensland Premier Anna Bligh, will appear again at this year's dinner on March 16 along with opposition leader Tony Abbott.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and opposition leader Tony Abbott will be the guests of honour at the Queensland Irish Association’s (QIA) St Patrick’s Eve Dinner in Brisbane on Tuesday, March 16, it has been revealed.

The country’s two leading politicians will attend the event in what is a major coup for the club, while visiting Irish Government minister Billy Kelleher will also be on hand.

This will be the second year in a row that Mr Rudd will appear at the QIA dinner, having spoken at length about his own Irish background at last year’s event.

QIA president Eamon Gaffney told the Echo that the club is delighted to be playing host to both Mr Rudd and leader of the opposition Mr Abbott.

“It really is a feather in the Irish community’s cap to have the Prime Minister come to us two years in a row,” Mr Gaffney said.

“And to have Tony Abbott come too is really great. This is the first time in quite some time that we will have both sides from national politics at the event.

“It’s a bit like America really – the Irish vote is quite important to them. Not that this will be a political venue for either of them – we keep politics out of it at the St Patrick’s Eve dinner.”

by Isabel Hayes