Candelo is a town in south-eastern

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

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. It is in the

Bega Valley Shire The Bega Valley Shire is a Local government in Australia, local government area located adjacent to the South Coast, New South Wales, south-eastern coastline of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire was formed in 1981 with the amalgamation of t ...

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

, south of the state capital,

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and north-west of the popular coastal holiday destination of Eden. In 2011, Candelo had a population of 732 people. Candelo was named by Peter Imlay, the first European settler in the area, who named his original 1834 house "Candelo House" after the town of Candelo, Italy. The area around Candelo was first settled by Europeans in the 1830s, and the village was developed in the 1860s at a crossroads, following the passage of the New South Wales Land Act of 1861 which allowed closer settlement. Candelo hosts notable community events such as the Candelo Village Festival, a biennial music and arts festival. The inaugural festival was held in 2008. The Candelo Show, held every January is an annual agricultural and horticultural exhibition event that has been running since 1883. The Candelo Markets are held on the first Sunday of the month and have been running since 1982. They exist primarily to fund community projects in the Candelo area. These markets are notably a dog free zone, however, it is widely known by many tourists to turn a blind eye to the local bureaucracy and insist in bringing their hounds. Also hosts a small colony of native mega-bats / Grey-Headed flying foxes from time to time (if native flowering is happening). The bats are legally protected pollinators and seed dispersers of fruit (often called "fruit bats) whose diet is nectar, pollen and fruit. For the past four million years or so they have been forest builders. Numbers have declined since European arrival so that around five percent remain across their range from Queensland to South Australia. Conservation efforts are focused on protecting camps, reducing harm and education. Fruit tree netting w a mesh size of 5mm x 5mm or less is highly recommended (larger mesh is illegal in Victoria) and reduces entanglement injuries and death by birds and mega-bats / flying foxes. The bats have only one pup per year and are religiously significant to many first nation's people. Sapphire Speedway is located within the Candelo locality. The track is 600m and features a Clay/Granite mix. Among the divisions that run at the track are RSA Limited Sedans, SSA Production Sedans, Junior Sedans and Dirt Karts.

Notable people

Edna Lillian Nelson, expert in venereal diseases. was born here in 1896.

References

Towns in New South Wales Towns in the South Coast (New South Wales) 1860s establishments in Australia Bega Valley Shire {{SouthCoastNSW-geo-stub