This year's independence day was the first overseen by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who was elected in July 2018 and took office in December.
Cinco de Mayo, celebrated on May 5, is sometimes confused for Mexico's independence day. Cinco de Mayo instead marks the Mexican army's defeat of a larger French force at the Battle of Puebla in 1862, during the Franco-Mexican War.
Lopez Obrador gave his first cry of independence as president in the Zocalo on Sunday night, shouting "viva" 20 times, matched by the more than 130,000 people gathered for the event.
Police patrolled the Zocalo and nearby streets. In addition to the troops on parade, members of the military and national guard dressed in civilian clothes circulated among the thousands of people in attendance.
But the military personnel dressed as civilians reportedly went unnoticed, as they didn't have to arrest or remove anyone.
There were varying reports about the clean-up effort. One noted 30 metric tons of garbage left behind in the Zocalo; another said there were 207 metric tons.
But it took 300 workers using 30 trucks, 11 sweepers, two water trucks, and a crane to clean 82,280 square meters in the Zocalo and surrounding areas, as well as 16 kilometers of nearby streets, most outlets said.
In Guerrero and Puebla, two states affected by drug- and fuel-theft related violence, respectively, at least 14 municipalities canceled events over security concerns. And a few hours before Lopez Obrador opened celebrations on Sunday, five people were shot dead at a bar in Tabasco, the president's home state.