Howdy mjrb2004, good to see another Nova Scotian!
i agree with unionrdr, instructions on festa brew kits are extremely outdated. Following the instructions will undoubtly make OK beer but will certainly not make great beer. the instructions were designed to service such a broad spectrum of people, beer styles and brewing conditions. I'm not knocking noble grape either because they are pretty much my only LHBS but their advice is the same way. The "play it safe" approach. For example "the beer must be racked off the yeast in the primary after 7 days" Now there is some truth to that in some circumstances ie: yeast autolysis, or off-flavors from the trub. But for the majority of the time those factors are none existent.
I always primary for a month give or take a week, regardless if i'm doing a festa brew or any other. Secondary time is based on the the type of beer, desired clarity and other factors such as dry hopping or stabilizing.
So to sum up, the instructions are a great way for a novice brewer to make foolproof beer his/her first time but once you get a pretty good grasp on it, i suggest ditching the instuctions and using Homebrewtalk as your complete resource guide. This site will never let you down, I can almost guarantee it.
and mjrb2004 don't use pop bottles for long time storage, the plastic believe it or not is permeable by oxygen. i suggest going to a couple bars around dartmouth here and asking them to buy their bottles. 10c a piece. I do that frequently from a bar just down the street. and go on a monday or tuesday then you know they haven't got crud and dried **** in them. makes them a lot easier to clean and sanitize.