It is in the Bega Valley Shire local government area, 448 kilometres (278 mi) south of the state capital, Sydney and 38 kilometres (24 mi) north-west of the popular coastal holiday destination of Eden.

[3] 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.

The Candelo Show, held every January is an annual agricultural and horticultural exhibition event that has been running since 1883.

[6] 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.

Numbers have declined since European arrival so that around five percent remain across their range from Queensland to South Australia.